Rooted in old classic arcade games, BurgerTime from the '80s and Super BurgerTime from the '90, Namco brings us BurgerTime Deluxe for the iPhone and iPod touch. If you have never played these classics, then think of the game as Lode Runner only in BurgerTime series you are being chased by your favorite food and as you scale the ladders, you are trying to make burgers. BurgerTime Deluxe for the iPhone and iPod touch has over 60 levels and is a lot of fun if enjoy seeing Mr. Hotdog, Mr. Egg and Mr. Ham hot on your tail and ready to poke you the minute they catch up on you.

Gameplay

BurgerTime Deluxe has a cute story: You are chef Peter Pepper and you have a nice uncle who?s being squeezed by a mean chef Vinnie Vinegar. So now it?s up to you to scale the platforms, and assemble the burgers to save your uncle?s restaurant. Of course this isn?t just a nice stroll in the park, you must walk the length of the ingredients to make them drop into the plates, and Vinnie has sent some baddies after you. So you have to complete assembling the burgers before Mr. Cucumber or Mr. Egg catch you and knock you down. After you?ve completed a good chunk of the game?s vast number of levels, Vinnie gets nerves and calls you up and threatens you. You of course aren?t afraid of him, and then in the last few levels of the game, Vinnie comes after you himself, scaling the ladders and trying to knock you down. But in the end, you beat him and the good folks in town run him out.

Thanks to the cute story and a good number of power-ups, BurgerTime Deluxe never gets boring. Soon after you start the game, you will realize that when your drop an ingredient on top of another, it will make them each fall a level, this in turn speeds up the assembly process. And it also means that you don?t have to walk on everyone ingredient (bun, meat, lettuce, tomato and cheese), as long as you keep pushing the top ingredient (the bun) down, eventually all will fall into the plate. Along the way there are many power-ups appear on the platforms: potato chips, ice cream cone, coffee, tea and French fries. These power ups earn you extra points while the French fries earn you extra life.

Now what fun would a game be if you just run from your enemies? There is pepper bottle on the right bottom corner of the screen, when you tap on the bottle, you will throw pepper in enemies? eyes and make them temporarily immobile while you walk right pass them unharmed. Hey you are not named Peter Pepper for nothing. In addition to your trusty pepper bottle, the game also puts out super weapons: pepper in a jar and a bottle of hot pepper. If you catch one of these babies, you will spray pepper at all enemies or burn them all up with the red hot pepper. While enemies are busy re-spawning, you are walking to your finishing line. The game also offers mini games like catching burgers.

BurgerTime Deluxe uses the touch screen control which works most of the time, but the control buttons can go out of whack and your character runs in different directions from the directional buttons you are pressing. The touch control has four directional buttons which allows you to move Peter horizontally or vertically. After a level starts, wherever you first touch the screen that?s where the d-buttons will live, and you can have them on either right hand side or the left hand side. One nice thing about the game is that you get 10 lives to start, and you can continue after you loose all 10 lives with a fresh start from your last completed level. So gamers should have no trouble finishing the entire game as long as you keep trying.

Graphics

BurgerTime Deluxe has bright colored graphics. The story carton slides have French country style and the in-game graphics are sharp and colorful. The burger joints have some variations in style (like Asian, Italian, etc.), but most importantly among the busy platforms, food ingredients, power-ups and enemies are easy to see. Character movements are very smooth.

Sound

BurgerTime Deluxe has nice background music that helps move things along with smooth tunes and nice beats. The music doesn?t stand out but it does a pretty good job at keeping you company yet not distract you from your gameplay. Sound effects are cute and provide audio feedback for certain actions in the game.

Conclusion

It seems that the iPhone/iPod touch platform has quickly become a favorite place to bring back some classics and old favorites. BurgerTime Deluxe found a new home in this mobile platform. The landscape display on the iDevice is perfect for the gameplay, and a game with 60 plus levels and mini games surely is worth the price. The power ups and the story line keep the game interesting. The graphics and sound are both polished. The only thing that could use some improvement is the control when the on-screen d-pad is a bit flakey. All in all, BurgerTime Deluxe is a solid rendition of the old classic arcade game on a new touch screen device.

Ratings (scale of 1 to 5):

Graphics: -5- Stylish graphics in story slides; in-game graphics are sharp. Sound: -4.5- Smooth background music and good sound effect. You can play iPod music. Controls: -4- For the most part, controls are easy and smooth, and good for both left and right handed players. Sometimes the d-pad can get out of whack. Gameplay: -4.5- Huge number of levels and lots of power-ups to keep gameplay interesting.

Playing Hints and Tips:

-Wait for enemies to walk below you, then step on the ingredients.

-Start from the top (the buns) and walk your way down. The buns will help drop other ingredients so that you don?t have to walk on every piece.

-Don?t get on the same level of platform as Vinnie when he gets in the level. He will knock you down without having to get close to you.